The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday declared that the Covid-19 pandemic, which has claimed millions of lives, is no longer a public health emergency of international concern. The major news regarding the dreaded coronavirus came after the independent emergency committee of WHO held its 15th meeting on the Covid crisis.
Like a nightmare, a microscopic villain that was later identified as Covid-19, led to a cluster of cases of pneumonia in Wuhan, China. Soon after, it was declared a public health emergency of international concern by the WHO in January 2020. After wreaking havoc on people’s lives for more than three years, looks like Covid-19 has finally taken a backseat.
The coronavirus disease wreaked havoc on people’s lives in December 2019 and upended lives. Now the declaration that it does not qualify as a global threat comes as a sigh of relief. At the same time, WHO has cautioned people to avoid letting their guard against Covid-19 down in any way.
Covid may not be a global health emergency anymore, but caution is still necessary
The committee came to the decision after reviewing the situation of the past year. “It is therefore with great hope that I declare Covid-19 over as a global health emergency. However, that does not mean Covid-19 is over as a global health threat,” he tweeted.
Also Read: Omicron subvariant XBB.1.16: Conjunctivitis may be the latest symptom, here’s how to manage the eye condition
However, he also mentioned that this news should not be used as a reason by countries “to let down its guard, to dismantle the systems it has built, or to send the message to its people that Covid-19 is nothing to worry about.” In a chain of tweets, Tedros says that the virus is here to stay and can kill if ignored. New variants still pose a threat and can cause new surges in Covid-19 cases and deaths. There are several thousands who still continue to fight the coronavirus in intensive care units and millions more continue to live with the debilitating effects of post Covid-19 condition.
Covid-19 situation in India
The Covid-19 situation is getting better in India. The cases continue to decline in the country. As per data from the Union Health Ministry on Friday, 3,611 new coronavirus infections had been reported, while the number of current cases decreased from 36,244 to 33,232 in India.
The death toll rose to 5,31,642 with 36 deaths. The total for the Covid case was 4.49 crore (4,49,64,289). The total number of patients who have recovered from the coronavirus illness has increased to 4,43,99,415 while the fatality rate is at 1.18 percent. As for vaccination, the country has already received 220.66 crore doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, which shows that people are not taking it lightly and getting themselves vaccinated.
#Covid19 #longer #global #health #emergency
